I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

Episode 43 – Astar Kaiser’s Secret (2)

* * *

The first thing Hero Kyle did after sending Astar and Victoria off was to sneak into the back alleys of the Nightmare Theater.

“Kyle, was it really necessary to come to a place like this?”

“Kyle must have his own reasons.”

His companions, leaving behind the bright lights and welcoming buildings, couldn’t hide their questions as they walked into the dark, foul-smelling alleyways.

Why would he abandon such a happy, pleasant place to explore this kind of area first?

They believed that to learn Succubus Queen Bellamora’s weaknesses, entering the dreams called ‘movies’ here would be the most effective method, but…

“…I have something to check here. Places like this always hide the dark parts even more than the bright parts.”

Hero Kyle’s judgment was different. He couldn’t understand why Bellamora was being so friendly towards them.

Even if she felt affection for Astar, he couldn’t understand where the confidence to postpone his death for a week was coming from.

Unless she was truly feeling nihilistic and wanted to die, it was a very suspicious proposal.

“I’m going to ask you guys a question. Why did Bellamora try to get Astar to go see a movie?”

To resolve that doubt, Kyle asked for his companions’ opinions. He needed to confirm if his current thoughts weren’t mistaken.

“Maybe she was trying to keep Victoria in check? They haven’t been dating Astar for long, after all.”

“If that were the case, she would have put us in a lucid dream like last time. If there’s an easier way, why choose a harder one?”

“…That’s true. Come to think of it, she deliberately ran away like she was trying to avoid something last time too.”

“The dream we had before was definitely strange. It’s weird that she didn’t use the nightmare that doesn’t end, a succubus’s real weapon, or a lucid dream so vivid you’d mistake it for reality.”

Anima nodded in agreement with Kyle’s opinion. Succubi are a race that can delve into people’s memories and manipulate dreams as they please.

If Bellamora wanted to, she could make people wander through countless lifetimes, not knowing if they’re in a dream or reality.

“Right, Bellamora’s nickname also comes from how she trapped those who opposed the demon king in endless nightmares, making them fight each other until they destroyed themselves.”

The hero bit his lip, revealing the facts he knew.

That was why so many people from his family, famous for being dragon slayers, had died a terrible death.

Even those with the mental fortitude of steel and strength enough to behead dragons couldn’t withstand Bellamora’s lucid dreams.

It was too suspicious to just say she was showing them mercy simply because she liked one man.

“So you’re saying that the lucid dream we had last time was a probe…. Kyle? She led us to her home turf, the Nightmare Theater, to kill us all at once?”

“Right, maybe the goal is to trap Astal in a dream and bring him to her side… or, failing that, try to kill him.”

Tarrion’s realization prompted Kyle to nod in agreement. No matter how much he thought about it, nothing else made sense.

“Bellamora knows that no matter what we try, we can’t beat her.”

Hiding a hero party that barged into her territory, even granting a week’s grace period, that confidence stemmed from this reason.

“What?! Then we need to go right now and save Astal and Victoria…!! We don’t have time to be standing around here!”

Anima’s face turned pale as she grasped the shocking truth. She grabbed Tarrion and Kyle’s arms, trying to drag them toward the cinema Bellamora had entered earlier.

“Calm down, Anima. Ultimately, Astal and Victoria are the only ones among us who are Bellamora’s equals.”

“…What? Why do you think so?”

Kyle placed his hand on Anima’s shoulder to calm her, but she tilted her head, confused as to why he thought that way.

“The best way to deal with a dreamscape is to recognize its disconnect from reality. If you just realize it’s a dream, Bellamora’s temptations won’t shake you.”

Kyle repeated the method Astal had mentioned before. He wasn’t aware that the reason he and Victoria had a contract relationship was to deal with a situation like this.

“Do you really think that’s possible? Last time, besides Astal, none of us handled the dreamscape properly!”

“I thought that if Victoria entered Astal’s dream with him this time, there would be a decent chance of success.”

“…What?”

“Right now, Victoria and Astal are dating. Bellamora will probably try to use the dream to tear them apart… and to overcome that, there’s only one way.”

Kyle spoke with a confident smile. He knew for sure after seeing Bellamora’s jealous reaction toward Victoria earlier.

She even brought up Astal’s parents to try and steal him away from her, which meant she had a plan or strategy worked out.

“To enter the dream together, directly destroy it, and deal a blow to Bellamora? There’s no way a malicious dream demon wouldn’t know that…!”

“No. To be precise, she’ll fall for it despite knowing that weakness.”

As he said this, Tarrion noticed blood splattered on the floor and touched it with his finger. It wasn’t fully dry, which suggested someone recently bled here.

“Most people here can’t withstand Bellamora’s dreamscape, and either choose to become her puppets…”

“…Or scramble to keep living in their desired dreams, selling off blood, organs, even their own children.”

The warrior frowned, directing his gaze in the direction the bloodstains pointed. At the end, they saw faces of people they knew.

“More blood…! It’s not enough…! I want to keep having dreams of getting rich!”

“I even sold the memory of having our children…! We have nothing left…!”

*Thud, thud, thud.*

The sound of organs spilling and splattering on the floor, the feeling of blood soaking into their feet. The stale, acrid smell of blood.

Moments ago, parents who had brought a child in were now stabbing them with knives with glazed-over eyes, dumping organs and blood into buckets.

“This can’t be… Unbelievable… Why…?”

Anima could only cover her mouth, shocked. It had been just moments ago that this had seemed like a paradise, a place overflowing with fun and exciting movies.

Now, it’s as if everything has flipped, a hellscape unfolding where they murder their own children with their bare hands to create currency for the demon realm.

“You guys… could you maybe give us some blood or dreams, maybe some of your lifespan? Organs are fine too… Your dear uncle and auntie are just so tired, you see…”

“That’s right… we can’t go back to before we dreamt those dreams…”

Spotting the hero party, the murderers’ eyes gleamed wickedly as they hid the knives behind their backs, wearing unnervingly kind smiles.

“…So, you wouldn’t mind if we took a little, right?”

Watching them raise their blades the instant their targets let their guard down, Kyle sighed deeply.

“I just knew the demon realm couldn’t be some place brimming with hope. And sadly, my hunch was right, after all…”

Hero Kyle drew his holy sword, swinging it at the crazed fiends who were lunging at them for their organs.

*Thwack—.*

“…And it was never likely that a ‘movie,’ a dream made from the memories and lives of others, would be a good thing anyway.”

As Kyle spoke, he walked heavily forward to check on the child, but it was already a cold, lifeless corpse.

The child’s eye sockets were sunken, likely from its parents selling its eyes, and trails of tears were visible through the hollows.

“Astar’s words, that all demons and monsters are nothing but trash, really resonate with me this time.”

Kyle picked up a ticket from the ground that was labeled ＜Get Rich Quick! You Too Can Be Rich! Rich Gold!＞ – something that looked just like the movie the parents had been watching moments ago.

Just what kind of movie would drive someone to be so deluded that they would kill their own child?

Looking around, Kyle saw even the corpses of the dead parents and child being eyed by starving gazes, ready to scoop them up and sell them off.

“…This place isn’t the last paradise or heaven after all. It’s a horrible hell where people are devoured by each other, seduced by Bellamora’s dreams.”

Kyle scoffed, utterly dumbfounded. He had intentionally come to this back alley, instead of the bustling downtown area filled with movies, to see this very thing.

* * *

The theater’s interior, where Victoria and I had come in with an abundance of food, was so empty it felt unsettling.

Other than me, Victoria, and Bellamora, no one else was there. In the dark place, all we could see was a vast white wall in front of us.

“The movie is starting soon! Astar-sama!”

Bellamora looked like a child on the eve of her birthday, her eyes shining as she looked forward to this more than anyone else.

She was guzzling down her drink, making audible slurping sounds as she did, and she had her hand over the center of her chest, taking deep breaths, as if trying to calm her racing heart.

“So, why are you sitting next to me?”

“Why? The milk-fed boy who had all that food go to his chest got to sit next to Astar-sama, didn’t he?”

I conjured a wall of ice using magic to block Bellamora’s approach. Even if she feels an attraction to me, she’s still a demon who’s a little off her rocker.

“…It doesn’t all go to my chest. I have a rather balanced physique.”

Annoyed by Bellamora’s snide remark, Victoria grabbed a large fistful of popcorn from the space between me and her and began munching on it.

-It goes to her butt too, you know. I don’t know if Astar-sama would like that later, though….

“Pfft.”

As someone who could hear every thought in Victoria’s head, I couldn’t help but spit out the cola I was drinking.

“…Why the sudden choking fit? Were you perhaps indulging in some lewd fantasies?”

“No, why do you talk like a succubus…?”

“I thought it was perfectly suited to Master Astal’s endless perversions…. Or was I mistaken?”

“……”

Victoria chuckled, wiping the corners of my mouth. This playful smile was one of her habits.

“…Just kidding. I only wish that, at least for now, you would think of me, your lover, more than the phantom of Bellamora.”

– Because I can confidently say I love you more than Bellamora. And I don’t want to lose when it comes to seducing you, either.

Victoria, once again concealing her true feelings within her words, looked at me with eyes that were warmer and softer than anything.

And at that moment,

─ [My past self witnessed the deaths of people with eyes that were stinging with cold.]

My childhood self flickered onto the white wall in front of me, and the movie called ＜The Life of Astal Kaisaros＞ began to play.